


Rapunzel? Or Not

by ukranianstairs



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Disney, Fantasy, M/M, Magic, Romance, Slice of Life, bestfriend johnny, fairytale, kingdom - Freeform, pretty yuta, prince jaehyun, prince jeffrey, rapunzel - Freeform, yujae
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-09-28 14:12:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17184491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ukranianstairs/pseuds/ukranianstairs
Summary: Prince Jeffrey who was born and raised in Valendale, hoped that his life was a magical fairytale just like the stories that his mother had told him when he was younger. But sad enough, there wasn't anything like that in the reality that he was in.One day, he and his bestfriend Johnny took off for a hunting session in the woods and as they were running away from something that Jeffrey thought was going to harm them, they found themselves lost in the middle of the woods.Their little adventure began, when Jeffrey heard an obnoxious laughter echoing through the woods, and when Johnny decided that he should help Jeffrey to add a little fairytale fantasy in his life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, I can't promise if I would finish this or not. I just really LOVE the concept of Jaehyun as a prince and I just wanted to write something based on that. I'm not a great writer so bear with me and my minimum knowledge of vocabulary as English is literally my 3rd language. 
> 
> It's my first time posting a chaptered piece so BLEGHHH forgive me if some informations aren't connected! But I promise that I'll try to connect them in the best way possible. 
> 
> I hope you'll like this piece and maybe?? Push me to continue and finish it?? Have fun reading!

The tall white furred horse galloped through the woods at its full speed, carrying a rider with a hunting gear on its back, not caring if the rider was in a safe position or not as it was actually trying to save itself from danger. The rider who was too focused on running away, and his heart which was beating furiously in fear, gripped on the rein rope of the horse ever so tightly until his knuckles almost turned white and hoping that he wouldn't accidentally fall off the horse. "I'm dead I'm dead, I'm so dead," he mumbled under his breath which was almost non existent, upon seeing a big tree trunk less than two hundred metres from where he was. He was scared, terrified to be exact, and he didn't actually want to get killed by crashing into a tree trunk while riding a horse because that, is a ridiculous way to die, to be honest.

"Jeffrey!"

The rider heard his name being called so loudly from afar and as if a switch clicked in his mind, he turned his head around to search for the person whose voice belonged to that he knew ever since he was a little child. His terrified emotions elevated and was replaced with emotions of happiness, grateful and the feeling of safety. His right hand man, his long termed bestfriend, his ride or die fellow, and his partner in crime, had come to rescue him from the danger that he was currently facing. "Johnny!" He called out as he pulled the rein rope of his horse lightly so the horse will slow down for just a little. Johnny rode his golden furred horse closer towards Jaehyun and when he was close enough, he turned back to see what was the danger that made Jeffrey ran in terror.

Johnny was taken aback. He saw that there was only thin air chasing his dear friend and he was utterly confused when Jeffrey was showing nothing but purely terrified expression when he watched the boy riding his horse, trying to save his life. He ushered his horse to run faster and caught up with Jaehyun who was already slowing down on his horse. "Jeffrey, stop! It's safe!" Johnny shouted with one of his hands signalling for the boy to stop and his head turning back and forth, making sure that he wouldn't crash into any tree twigs. Jeffrey nodded, still feeling nervous from the adrenaline rush that was built up by his fear. They were less than 50 metres away from the huge tree trunk that Jeffrey saw earlier and he prayed in his mind that he would be able to control his horse and make it stop on time. He pulled on the rein rope and let out a growl, a signal for the horse to know that it was time to stop running, and when the horse caught the signal, it let out a loud neigh while slowing down, pulling itself back and stood on its two back feet for a short while as Jeffrey pulled the rein rope again before it fell back down on four feet.

Johnny by his side, pulled his horse to a stop as well and he wasted no time to jump down from his horse, leading it towards Jaehyun who had also jumped down to the ground. "What were you running away from? There was literally nothing back there." Johnny and Jeffrey were out in the woods, hunting together before Jaehyun screamed and took off with his horse. He didn't know what actually happened to his friend and what did he see to make his friend ran off like that. Sure, Jeffrey was a scaredy cat, probably the biggest scaredy cat in the whole kingdom, but something must have triggered his fear and Johnny wanted to know. "Uh.. I saw a snakeー but no wait! I heard rumours about snakes before and that snake, that snakeー!"

"That snake was supposed to be a poisonous snake that people haven't found the cure to its poison?"   
"Yes! Correct!"

Johnny didn't know if he should laugh or cry, or maybe empathize with Jeffrey. But he was sure that his friend was a highly innocent young man that knew nothing about the reality of the world. He sighed before sitting down on one of the tree bark that was lying around on the floor of the woods. "Jeffrey, my friend, there isn't anything like that in this forest." He looked up at his friend who looked clearly in disbelief. He blinked once, twice, and thrice, then he walked up close to Johnny. "Really? Butー"

"Sorry to break your bubble, buddy. But we're not in a magical fairy tale."

Jeffrey groaned and stomped his feet at the mention of 'magical fairy tale'. He was a grown 20 year old young adult, but he still does believe in magic and fairy tales. After all, he was the young and handsome prince of the kingdom. He was already born as someone who was supposed to be in a fairy tale world, living in a fantasy-filled life and probably become the prince charming for someone who he had yet to meet. Ever since he was a child, his mother the Queen of Valendale, had been telling him nothing but the stories of fantasy worlds and magical things. He grew up believing that someday, he would face magical adventures and find himself a lover who he would meet through his adventures. Johnny, who grew up knowing the reality of the world that they were currently living in, didn't believe in such things that Jeffrey told him when they were children. Jeffrey would re-tell him the stories from his mother, but Johnny would always brush it off. It wasn't like Johnny disliked Jeffrey telling him the stories though, he did enjoy them and he liked the stories. He let Jeffrey tell him his whole dream and fantasies, but only that he never believed them.

"You didn't have to say that, you know?"  
"Ha! Caught you. Don't be hurt, your Highness! I'm only joking and you know that!"  
"Oh stop calling me that."

Johnny laughed as he stood up from the ground, locking his arm around Jeffrey's neck and pinched his fluffy cheek. Jeffrey's lips turned into a smile, as much as he didn't want to, and he laughed along with Johnny who kept poking his dimple when he tried to pull away. "Alright, that's enough. Now, where are we?" Jeffrey turned to look around at his surrounding and he was pretty sure that they were already deep in the woods. Johnny scratched the back of his head as he himself didn't know where they were. They had never went deep into the woods until that day and they didn't actually remember from which way did they come from. The sky was still on a shade of blue and it seemed like the sun won't set any sooner since they took off from the town a little bit early in the afternoon after they had their lunch. "Well, I guess we should start walking if we want to get back to town on time?" Johnny shrugged and walked back towards his horse, leading it through the woods. Jeffrey agreed as he lead his horse and walked closely behind Johnny.

Throughout the walk in the unknown part of the woods, they stopped after every couple of minutes to check on the path that they took, in hopes of seeing the footprints left by their horses. But they could see nothing and the day wasn't getting any brighter. "Should we turn back?" Jeffrey suggested to his friend as he felt the tension was getting higher in his nerves. He admitted that he was a scaredy cat and the only animal that he ever killed during his hunting was deers. "I'm sure this was the path that we took." Johnny looked around, and honestly, he wasn't sure. He knew that Jeffrey was starting to get panicked so he didn't want to scare the guy any more. He was someone that Jeffrey relies on a lot and he wanted to be that person for Jeffrey especially during this time. He looked around for more hints of footprints and he even squatted down and squinted very closely at some parts of the woods' grounds, just to make sure that he won't miss anything. "Johnny, I think we shouldー"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Jeffrey was about to tell Johnny that he wanted to turn back before he heard a loud, obnoxious, and high pitched laughter coming from nowhere. His eyes widened and he ducked his head on instinct. Johnny turned his head around to see Jeffrey looking small and vulnerable beside his horse, and it could be such an adorable sight for him if they weren't in the situation that they were in. He walked carefully towards Jeffrey while ducking low as well, and when he reached the boy, he pulled him down to crouch down next to him. "What was that?" Jeffrey asked in a whisper, panic coating his voice and fear, once again, shown in his eyes. Sure, he wanted something magical to happen in his dull life, but not something magical that involved an ugly old witch possibly residing in the middle of the woods. "I don't know. Should we find out?" Johnny had an idea. His face was showing a mischievous grin and Jeffrey didn't quite catch what was actually happening before Johnny stood up and jogged towards his horse. "You wanted a fairy tale-like life? Let's go find out!" Jeffrey stared at his partner in crime, jaw hanging and in pure disbelief. One thing about Johnny that he could never get used to was that, Johnny was always up for adventures.

  
-

  
"This doesn't seem real."  
"Why don't it?"  
"Look around, John! Does this makes sense?"

After hearing the witch-like laughter for a few times ever since, the duo found themselves walking into a very dark but yet beautiful part of the woods. Standing there in the middle of the small piece of land, was an old-looking grey tower that was probably built hundreds of years ago. Although the tower looked dark and ugly with a very mysterious aura, the surroundings weren't bad at all, it was way better than that. Blooming flowers are all over the place, with colourful petals and butterflies flying around the almost-garden-like land. If there was a fountain or maybe a waterfall, the place would've looked so much better and picturesque. Jeffrey took careful steps towards the blooming dandelion flowers before crouching down. He picked a flower and brought it close to his face as he blows onto the flower carefully and slowly, watching as the white fuzz flew away through the wind that was blowing ever so breezily. A dimpled smile cracked from his lips when he stood up from his crouching position and turned around to look for his bestfriend.

"Johnny, this is beautiful."   
"I know."

The two had left their horses behind to let them feed off the healthy green grass that was surrounding the colourful flowers. They walked off towards the tower in the middle of the land carefully, and they stopped just right in front of it to look at each other. "But this, this is weird," Jeffrey pointed towards the chipped brick wall in front of him. Johnny felt the wall of the tower with his palm as he looked up towards the top of the tower. "I'm going to round the tower and find the door." Jeffrey nodded as his friend took off to walk around the tower. It wasn't a small and short tower to be frank, it was probably a hundreed foot tall and fifty foot wide. Jeffrey looked up and he knitted his eyebrows when he realized there was a window designated almost at the top of the tower, which was pretty weird. He took a few steps back and squinted his eyes to see better and he saw, the window was opened and there were two potted plants at each ends of the window.

"There's no doorー"   
"Look."

Johnny came back from his detour and when he was about to tell Jeffrey that there wasn't any door to enter the tower, the latter stretched his arm up to point towards the opened window that he too, only realized. "Howー But there's no door?" Johnny was bewildered. He was sure that there wasn't a door or any opening that could lead them into the tower when he took his detour around it. The possibility of having a window but not a single door was out of his mind and he couldn't actually process what was going on.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Oh my, you silly little birdy!"

The laughter was once again heard and this time, it was so clear that the two males knew where it actually came from. They looked at each other, wide eyes, and looked back up towards the window. "Look, Johnny," Jeffrey pulled his friend by his shoulders and turned the boy to face him with his arms still attached on his shoulders to hold him in place before firing his words with a very excited tone. "I know this might sound really, really, ridiculous to you but, do you remember that one story I told you before? The one of a long haired girl? That she was kidnapped by an old witch for the power that she possesses in her hair? That she can heal things with her hair just by singing a song? That she lives in a tall tower with no doors and sheー"

"You mean, Rapunzel?"

Jeffrey stopped talking and he looked at Johnny even more straight in the eyes if he hadn't before. "That wasn't me." Johnny said quietly and carefully. He was as equally shocked as Jeffrey when he heard the sudden voice that interrupted Jeffrey's fantasy theory. It was a semi-yell voice and if he was correct, it probably came from the window up on the tower. Johnny signalled at Jeffrey with his eyes, so the boy would turn around and look up at window. The latter turned around carefully, not moving his eyes away from Johnny at first. His heart was beating so fast as he didn't expect the sudden voice and his mind couldn't think straight. He was afraid for what might come and he wasn't prepared for anything at all. He was the biggest scaredy cat in the kingdom for a reason and everyone including his mother would laugh at him if they saw him running away from a totally unharmful snake, well except Johnny.

As Jeffrey was finally turned around, he tightened his fist and braced himself for whatever kind of person, or maybe thing, that might look down at him from the window on top of the tower. He tilted his chin up, and his eyes squinted due to the brightness of the sunlight. He couldn't see anything at all and as he brought an arm over his head to shield his eyes from the sunlight, he tried to adjust his sight and what he saw at the window of the tower, was nothing like he had expected. Think of this: long golden hair, pink outfit and round face. Well what he saw, was nothing like that. With a shock of his life, his jaw hanged low and his eyes widened for the nth time in that day.

"Hello there!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "HーHi.. You're beautiful." Jeffrey didn't realize what he was saying. He was always honest with his words but that? That was too honest and even Johnny choked on his own saliva when he heard the words coming out from his bestfriend's mouth.

As if his eyes were deceiving him, Jeffrey's heart was pounding against his chest upon seeing the beauty that was up high on the tower, resting on the window looking even more stunning and brigher than the sun itself. If the fully bloomed flowers around the land were pretty, then the figure he was seeing from below the tower was gorgeous, beautiful and everything magnificient. He was thoroughly enchanted as he couldn't even afford to blink his eyes, afraid that the beauty might disappear from his sight. He had never seen anyone, or anything as beautiful as the boy that he was looking at, at that moment, and he thought his mother was the most beautiful person in the kingdom. Light brown hair, huge round eyes, perfectly shaped nose and a pretty pair of lips that were curved into a beautiful smile. What a sight it was.

The boy smiled down at the duo and waved his little hand timidly. Johnny was taken aback by the sight he was seeing as well, but not as stunned as Jeffrey who was completely frozen at his spot. "Hello there!" Johnny waved his hand back and he pushed Jeffrey forward, trying to wake his friend up. "HーHi.. You're beautiful." Jeffrey didn't realize what he was saying. He was always honest with his words but that? That was too honest and even Johnny choked on his own saliva when he heard the words coming out from his bestfriend's mouth. Jeffrey took a step back as he realized what he had said that could never be taken back. "No waitー I meanー"

"No, it's alright! But, are you alright there buddy?" The boy from the window laughed and pointed his finger towards the two boys who stood at the base of the tower. Jeffrey was once again stunned, by his bright face that lit up the moment he opened his mouth to laugh. He was already used to the once he thought was an obnoxious laughter, but now he thought the laughter was like the only music that he would want to hear every night before he goes to sleep and every morning after he wakes up. He was mesmerized by the boy that he had literally just met a minute ago and only exchanged a few words with. "We're alright! Just kind of lost actually. Do you know the way back to town?" Johnny couldn't watch the scene that was unravelling in front of him since Jeffrey couldn't actually hold a proper conversation for God knows why, and so he had to take charge. He bumped his fist lightly against Jeffrey's shoulder as a signal for him to get it together and the latter blinked a few times before standing firm, or maybe not so firm.

Sure, Johnny was feeling weirded out as well. It never crossed his mind that a person was actually living in the deep part of the woods and moreover, that person seems so bright and kind that it was almost unreal. That wasn't the weirdest part of the whole thing yet. The weirdest part was, why was there not a single entrance around the base of the tower and the only opening it had was the one window which the boy was standing by from inside? Johnny wanted to know more about the place, and he was a little curious about it, but Jeffrey his bestfriend, was totally focused on the boy who was supposedly residing in the tower and he had to pull him away from the sudden attraction.

"Oh oh, I know! The town right? The pretty town? Just go straight to the west and don't turn anywhere!" The boy bounced a little as he spoke with a little too much enthusiasm. His eyes were huge and filled with sparkles of joy, and his hands were flailing around, showing the direction to the path that the two boys should take. "The town is so pretty! I've been there a couple of times and I just couldn't believe my eyes, you know? There are so many people and colourful things around and I just want to take them all back home!" Jeffrey found himself staring at the boy at the window again. He had never seen anyone talking about a town in such a cheerful and excited manner just like someone who had never been in a town before. The boy was literally making gestures with his hands, his eyes glowing up as he mentioned the thing about colourful stuff, and his never fading smile on his face as he thought about the town. It was a really weird yet enticing sight to see.

"Thank you for that and we'll get going now! Come on Jeff." Johnny was practically pulling Jeffrey's arm at this point. The sky's colour had turned orange and he didn't want to be in the woods when it's dark since it seems like it was going to take a while for them to reach the town. He was very skeptical about a random person living in a tower deep in the woods and he wasn't planning to stay any longer to have a chit-chat with the person although he wanted to know what was really going on. Jeffrey stumbled backwards when his bestfriend pulled his arm and once again, he was snapped into reality. As if the circuit wires in his head connected, he finally had something to say, or rather something to ask, to the stranger by the window. He gathered the little amount of courage he had and pulled himself from Johnny who was already dragging him towards their horses.

"Hey! Sorry if it's rude but, can I please know your name?" He smiled towards the boy by the window for the first time ever since he looked at him, and never had Johnny ever sighed so loudly before. He knew where this was going and he knew that Jeffrey had his mind set on it. The boy by the window broke into another blinding smile, his eyes turning into crescents and all his happy aura spreading through the thin air and towards Jeffrey. "Yuta! Nakamoto Yuta! How about you, young man?"

"I'm Priー Jeffrey! Just call me Jeffrey! Nice to meet you, Yuta!"   
"Yeah yeah, nice to meet you! We're going now! Bye!"   
"Bye bye! Have a safe journey!"

Jeffrey walked backwards since he was pulled by Johnny, watching as Yuta waved at them with both of his hands. He couldn't get his eyes off the boy and when they had reached to where their horses were, Johnny had to shake him by his shoulders to pull him into reality for the nth time. He climbed onto his horse with much difficulty since his eyes were still fixed on Yuta, the beautiful boy that he just met in the deep part of the woods. Johnny took off with his horse whilst Jeffrey finally able to take his eyes off the boy and started riding his horse back to town, tailing closely behind Johnny. His body was controlling his horse really well, but his mind weren't in full control by himself since all he could think about was Yuta, Yuta and Yuta.

The beautiful smile that he saw for the first time under the blinding sunlight, the round and huge pair of eyes that stared at him from above by the window, the melodious laughter that was still heard in the back of his mind, and the voice. The soft yet firm voice, the high yet low toned voice, the beautiful and soothing voice that belonged to none other than him, Yuta. Jeffrey had no other thoughts than Yuta being a prince rather than himself, the actual prince. He was the prince of Valendale, but Yuta might be the prince of his magical fantasies and fairy tales. The prince that he dreamt of meeting and getting to know, the prince that could start a storm in his life and the prince that could bring colours to his life just like the colours of the flowers around the land near the doorless and gloomy looking tower. That tower could've had been Yuta's little castle, and Jeffrey would want to visit that tower again, soon.

  
-

  
"Really, Jeff? Beautiful?"

They were feeding their horses in the stable when Johnny swung his arm around Jeffrey's shoulders, putting aside the bucket of carrots that was in his hand. He had kept in his mind to question what was going on with Jeffrey when he saw the boy at the tower and he wasn't planning on letting him live if he won't answer him truthfully. As if annoyed, Jeffrey scoffed and continued to feed the horses that were lined up in the stable, patiently waiting for their treats. "You saw him too, and you'd be lying to me if you didn't think he's beautiful." Jeffrey was right. Johnny did think that the boy named Yuta was beautiful, but to him, it wasn't to that extent for him to be completely stunned just like how his friend was. Besides, he already had his eyes for a dancer that always performed at the town's plaza every year during their harvest month festival.

"Isn't it weird though? He lives in the forest, and he sounded like he wasn't from this town." Johnny retracted himself from Jeffrey and went to sit on a bale of hay at the corner of the stable. He watched as his friend finished feeding the horses. The thing about Jeffrey was that, even though he was the only prince of the kingdom, he never looked down on his people and he would always come down to help the commoners that works for his family. Some days he would feed the horses, some days he would help them to harvest their crops and some days he would walk around the town and play with little kids. He was easily the best and perfect prince that could ever existed in Johnny's eyes, and as much as he knew who Jeffrey was, sometimes his actions could be unpredictable and Johnny wanted to know what was he really thinking about. "You're not wrong," Jeffrey put his empty bucket at the side near the entrance of the stable. He knew what he saw and what he heard, he knew that Yuta wasn't someone ordinary, and he knew really well that he was pulled in by some unknown force that was known as Yuta's blinding smile, and that wasn't good.

The two boys parted ways and when Jeffrey had finally enter his room inside the castle, he somehow found himself feeling lonely and the atmosphere was a little bit too cold for his liking. He went to the balcony of his room and stood there, arms resting on top of the brown wooden railing and his mind wandered off along with the night breeze. He stared at the endless horizon and he wondered, what kind of scenery would Yuta see from his window at the tower. Would he only see trees of the forest? Would he be staring at the same blue night sky? Would he see the same bright moon that was already up high in the sky? Jeffrey wondered, and wondered, if he could someday, meet the boy again and talk to him again, in a much more proper way and maybe in a casual way. After all, he did introduced himself as just Jeffrey, nothing more than that. For once, he didn't want to be known as one of the noble people in the kingdom and for once, he wanted to be known just as someone ordinary. He smiled to himself and made up his mind as he closed the door to the balcony and went to his bed, he will go to the forest again tomorrow, and he will meet the boy whose beauty captured his attention, for the second time.

  
-

  
"Johnny! Oh thank goodness I've found you!"   
"Your Highness?"   
"Johnny, God, Jeffrey! He's nowhere to be found in the castle and I thought he might be with you. Have you seen him, my dear?"   
"I'm sorry your Highness but, I haven't seen him."   
"Oh no.. Where is he? Where could he be?"

Johnny was simply fixing his bow in front of the royalty's horse stable when he was suddenly approached by none other than Jeffrey's own mother, the Queen of Valendale, that morning. He wasn't as shocked as the queen as it actually happened quite often when they were younger. Jeffrey would wander off on his own little adventure without telling anyone and it was already a norm for Johnny to be approached by either the queen or the king, to be asked on his whereabouts. A switch clicked in Johnny's mind when he thought for a little while, and he knew he shouldn't worry about it for now. "Your Highness, I think I might know where he is, and I can assure you that he's safe." He gave the most assuring smile that he could give to the queen as he stood up straight in front of her. She let out a sigh of relief and held Johnny by his shoulder. "I trust you, Johnny, but I want him back at least before midnight."

"Of course, your Highness." Johnny wasn't sure if he could fulfill her wish or not, but he was sure that he would need a lot of work to accomplish it. He made a reminder in his head that he would take off to the forest only in the afternoon as he was sure that Jeffrey would want some time alone with the stranger named Yuta.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm back with a new chapter. I've decided to update once a week and around this time which is Friday, 12AM KST. I hope this chapter is good enough though? I've been slacking a lot and playing games so I don't have that much motivation to write. I hope I'll get some motivation after posting this chapter though!
> 
> Thanks for reading and as always, kudos and comments are highly appreciated! ♡


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuta showed his unfaltering blinding smile but Jeffrey knew it was just a facade. It wasn't the same bright smile that he saw yesterday when Yuta talked about the town, and he knew that Yuta was holding himself back. The atmosphere suddenly turned gloomy, and Yuta especially hated it. 
> 
> "Well! I'm going to clean upー"   
> "I'll be with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost forgot to update this chapter but hhhhh glad I remembered. Hope you'll like it!

The scenery was just like how he remembered although he had seen it less than 24 hours ago. Colourful blooming flowers, bright sun and gloomy looking tower standing in the middle of the piece of land. Jeffrey wasn't completely sure that he had made the right decision to take a little adventure on his own to go to this part of the woods but he was a hundred percent sure that he wanted to meet the boy again. He hopped off his horse and made his way through the flowery path just like how he did yesterday. He took his time admiring all the flowers and wonder in his head, how magnificient does the flowers look, growing in the middle of the woods, on its own natural habitat like where its supposed to be. He slowly approached the tower as his head was cocked upwards while he walked, staring at the window that he at first never knew existed before the boy of his fantasies greeted him from behind it. The window was opened, just like yesterday, and he wondered if he could once again hear the melodious laughter that kept playing in his head all night.

Jeffrey waited, and waited, and waited, for something to happen. He had stood there for a good 13 minutes, staring up the window, but to his disappointment, nothing happened at all. His shoulders slumped down and a sigh left his lips as he turned around. He was ready to leave the place as he found no courage to call out for the boy. He wanted to see him at least for a little while but, he lost his confidence the moment he stepped his foot in the garden of flowers. The only push he had that dragged him there was the desire to at least see the boy again with his own pair of eyes, but no confidence came along with it. His head was hung down low as he kicked off one of the small stones that was laying around on the ground. He was sad, of course. He came with anticipation but he would go back with disappointment. The little morning adventure would be listed under the list of failed adventures that he had. One step, two steps, three steps were took before he sighed again and finally lifted his head up to see where he was going.

"Um.. Hello?"

The time stopped for Jeffrey and he was yet again, stunned in his place. His steps were taken back and he stood there, eyes wide and jaw hanging. He didn't expect to see anything at all but there it was. There was the person that he had been longing to see, that he painfully missed, and he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him and he was suddenly on a magic spell. Standing there, hugging a small basket full of flowers, was Yuta. He looked as beautifulー no, probably more beautiful than what Jeffrey had seen of him yesterday. He looked much more gorgeous standing in front of him on his eye level and Jeffrey noticed that he was taller than the boy. His pretty light brown hair was shining against the morning sun rays and his skin was radiantly glowing. His eyes were huge and sparkling just like how Jeffrey remembered but much more pretty than how it were yesterday. Everything looked much more better and more beautiful than how he remembered, and he wasn't exaggerating. The boy waved his hand a little and Jeffrey was snapped into reality. That's right, he shouldn't keep getting stunned due to his beauty and make fun of himself in the process.He should handle it professionally and he should be better than that, stop making himself look even more dumb than he already was.

"Hi there." He cleared his throat before saying the two simple words. A shy smile unknowingly spread on his face as he looked at Yuta who was there, smiling at him as well. But Yuta didn't seem shy though. He was smiling in a friendly manner and he was genuinely happy to see Jeffrey again. "You're back here again. Why? Got lost again?" He chuckled and oh silly Jeffrey was blown away by that simple gesture. It was a truly minimum thing to be done and Jeffrey's thoughts were going everywhere instead of focusing on the conversation. He realized that he had left Yuta on hanging for quite a while when the boy tilted his head and raised his eyebrows, and finally, he answered with a nervous tone. "Oh no, I'm not lost. I'm just..."

"Just?"   
"Uh, just having a morning stroll."

He knew the answer was dumb and he was practically beating himself at the back of his mind. Yuta let out a light laugh before walking towards the tower, passed Jeffrey whose eyes followed him in curiousity. "Well, your morning stroll took you this far hmm?" He placed the basket of flowers down near the base of the tower and stood up straight, smiling towards Jeffrey again. Jeffrey rubbed the back of his neck as he nervously chuckled. Yuta wasn't dumb and he knew that Jeffrey wasn't simply taking a morning stroll. Plus, without Jeffrey knowing, he had been there long enough to watch the boy staring up the window of his tower and he kept quiet just to give him a surprise. He never had guests before, so Jeffrey was the first and he too, wanted to know the boy more.

"Do you want to see something cool?" Yuta had his hands on his waist and tilted his head up slightly, indirectly pointing towards the window of the tower. Jeffrey was confused but he nodded nonetheless. But before anything happened, he did wonder how did Yuta came down from the window since there was nothing built as a lift for him to go up and down the tower. Yuta signalled for Jeffrey to come closer to where he was standing and the boy complied. He was a meter away from where Yuta was and Yuta suddenly turned to crouch down near the basket of flowers and picked one of the pink coloured flowers. He stood up, picking up the basket with him and walked closer to Jeffrey who was watching him carefully. "Hold this for me," he said with an encouraging smile on his face. Jeffrey obligedly took the basket and held it close to himself, touching the flowers as it looked really pretty that it was impossible to not touch.

"Ready?"   
"Uh.. Yes?"

Jeffrey didn't know what was coming. He had no idea at all about it and he was completely dumbfounded when Yuta, standing really close in front of him, suddenly held the pink flower that he picked earlier against his chest, and with the most beautiful smile and gentle eyes that he had, he sang a song, that never had Jeffrey heard of before.

  
_Flower gleam and glow,_   
_Let your power shine,_   
_Help a fellow soul,_   
_Show us the path to climb._

  
The flowers that was in the basket that was held by Jeffrey glowed in golden and slowly, they flew around the sky with sparkles of golden dust falling off that disappeared before it touched the ground. Yuta turned around with the one flower in hand as he gestured, pointing from the base of the tower and up towards the window. The flowers flew towards the tower and grew long roots, tough branches, and soon the shape was shown as a set of flowery staircase leading up to the window. It was enchanting. It was much more phenomenal and magical than what Jeffrey had imagined in his whole life of believing in magic and fairytales. He was in full awe and happy was an understatement to what he was feeling. Never had he ever imagined to see magic, being casted right in front of his eyes, and never had he ever imagined that his fantasy became reality. It was a dreamlike experience that he couldn't stop smiling so wide with opened mouth, eyes sparkling as he stared at the flowery staircase. He saw how elegant Yuta's gestures were and he heard how beautiful Yuta's singing voice was. The joy that he was feeling deep in his heart were full-blown and he was about to burst out the loudest scream if it weren't for the reminder that Yuta was there.

"Iー How did you do that?! That was amazing!" Jeffrey was thoroughly excited and curiousity were filling up his thoughts. He was taken through the memory lane from his childhood days of wanting to cast spells and do magic. His inner self was awakened and he wasn't going to shut it out again as he had seen, and faced, the very evidence of the existence of magic. He grabbed Yuta by his shoulders and his face was close to the latter, widened eyes and high lifted cheekbones due to smiling so widely with his mouth open. Yuta was taken aback and he was shocked, honestly saying. He had never seen such huge reaction by someone from seeing his abilities and by the way Jeffrey was acting, he knew the boy was something else. He saw the pure curiousity in Jeffrey's eyes and he felt like he had made an accomplishment in his life. Yuta's lips curled into a smile as he pushed Jeffrey back gently since he was getting too close. "It's magic. Do you like it?" The boy wasted no time in nodding furiously. He liked magic, boy, he loves it. He loves it too much that he might pass out if he saw it for the second time.

Just when Yuta was about to invite Jeffrey to go up into the tower with him, a familiar voice interrupted them. "Excuse me?" Jeffrey turned around in surprise as he knew the voice too well. His hands on Yuta's shoulders were quickly retracted and they went back to his sides. "Johnny? Why are you here?" He smile altered nervously to his bestfriend that stood not too far from them. He wasn't trying to hide anything from him, but his sudden appearance just made him nervous for no reason. It was as if he was caught by his parents for going on a date without permission. Johnny raised an eyebrow and stared at Jeffrey. "Your mother was looking for you and I just happened to know that you might be here."

"Mom? Why was she looking for me?"   
"Oh my, aren't you an idiot? For goodness sake, you're the son ofー"  
"No, no! I know! I know, I know. I justー Alright Johnny let's talk for a bit."   
"Whatー"

Jeffrey excused himself from Yuta as he walked towards Johnny and dragged him further away. Yuta was confused with Jeffrey's action, especially when he suddenly cut Johnny off in the middle of his sentence. It was like he was hiding a secret from him and it was so close to be spilled by Johnny. Yuta blinked as he watched, and waited for the two boys to finish their talk.

"Listen John, I didn't tell him that I'm a prince."   
"Wait, what? Why?"   
"He doesn't have to know. Besides, like you said, he doesn't sound like someone who was from our town, and I just confirmed it earlier."  
"What do you mean? Did you take a look at his birth certificate or something?"  
"No John, please. He did something. Something unordinary and out of the world that you wouldn't believe."

Johnny narrowed his eyes as he looked at his bestfriend. Jeffrey's face was glowing with excitement and Johnny knew that there was only one thing that could make him that excited. He couldn't believe his thoughts on it but he gave it a try anyway. "Did he do magic?" Jeffrey, without second thoughts, nodded his head furiously and smiled ever so widely, looking the happiest he's ever been in his whole life upon the mention of 'magic'. He was way too happy to even contain it and Johnny was starting to get worried if Jeffrey was the one who was being casted a spell on. "Yes he sure did! That flower staircase, look! It's magic! Yuta did that!" He pointed excitedly towards the beautiful flower staircase and Johnny could confirm that it wasn't there yesterday, and it looked too surreal to be built simply by hands.

He moved his gaze to Yuta who was standing there staring at them with a childlike smile. His eyes then moved back to Jeffrey who was still staring at him with full excitement. He wasn't sure on how to respond to this whole thing and he wasn't sure on what to do next. He was only there to bring Jeffrey back home but now that things have turned around, he didn't know what to do, or more like, what would Jeffrey want to do. "Well.. So.. What now?" He slowly asked his bestfriend. Jeffrey cleared his throat and tried to compose himself. He stared at the ground for a little while and realized, he didn't know what to do either. His plan was just to go there and see Yuta. That was it. He didn't plan on what to do afterwards nor did he know that extraordinary things would happen while he was there. He looked around at his surroundings and turned around to see Yuta waving his little hand with a timid smile, then an idea came up in his mind.

"I'm staying here for a while."

  
-

  
The room was bigger than expected and the walls were decorated with paintings and small pots of flowers hanging around. Yuta's queen sized bed was there just beside the window where they came in from and in the room, there wasn't much furniture besides the bed. Only a wardrobe and a dressing table. There was a staircase that leads down to the lower part of the tower which had the dining place, kitchen and bathroom. It was all simple and old-looking that Jeffrey believed that Yuta had been living there since he was born. Jeffrey's little fantasy of seeing a fairytale-like place had come true when he entered the tower that was known as Yuta's home. Eventhough the place looked worned out, it had this atmosphere that he couldn't get a grasp on. It was like he had this thought of people who knew magic and could do magic, lived there before, and there was Yuta, the living proof of it.

"You're staring around too much. Is my place that nice?" Yuta asked shyly as he scratched his head. As far as he knew, his home wasn't the nicest at all and he had seen the huge castle that was situated in the town which he had went a few times before. He also saw how people's houses were differently shaped from his, so he wondered what did Jeffrey think of his home. "Yes it is. It's really nice. I like it a lot," Jeffrey smiled warmly while tracing the small wooden dining table, his eyes wandering around, looking at the oil lamps that were hanging along the walls. His huge room in the castle couldn't compare to the homey feeling that this tower had, if he were to be honest. He just liked how cozy and warm the place felt like and it just made him feel safe, somehow. "Well.. Have a seat, I'll cut up some fruits and we can chat!"

  
-

  
"So as I was saying," Yuta lifted up the last piece of freshly cut up peach and shoved it into his mouth, chewing it before continuing his words. "I don't remember since when did I live here, and my mother passed away when I was 16. I never knew who my dad was but according to her, he didn't claim me as his child because of my birthmark that looks like a tattoo on my back." Jeffrey nodded while taking a sip of his tea that was made by Yuta. They had been sitting there for over three hours, mainly talking about Yuta because he wanted to know who the boy really was. His background story wasn't helping muxh though. From what Jeffrey know from his story, Yuta's mother was a magician and that was it. Even Yuta didn't know what kind of things did his mother do and who was she before Yuta came into her life.

"Do you want to find out about yourself though? Who you really are and why are you living here?" He looked at the light brown haired boy who had his elbow propped up on the table and his chin resting on his palm. The boy gave it a short thought before shaking his head with a somehow painful smile on his face. "It's alright. I just want to live here peacefully, you know?" He sat straight and stretched his arms forward, holding his own hands then playing with his own fingers as he stared at them. "Mother said the outside world is cruel, and she wasn't wrong. I've seen a crime happened when I went to the town before, and I never want to see it again. I'm fine living on my own here." Yuta showed his unfaltering blinding smile but Jeffrey knew it was just a facade. It wasn't the same bright smile that he saw yesterday when Yuta talked about the town, and he knew that Yuta was holding himself back. The atmosphere suddenly turned gloomy, and Yuta especially hated it.

"Well! I'm going to clean upー"   
"I'll be with you."

Jeffrey looked up from his cup of tea and held a serious expression. He didn't like the smile that Yuta gave him just a moment ago and in his mind, just like how Yuta didn't want to see any crime anymore, he didn't want to see that sad smile anymore. He had made hasty decisions before and this wasn't any different. The only different thing was that, this time he was determined. Yuta might be the person that Jeffrey never knew he needed in his life because he felt that the moment he laid eyes on him, he missed him even though they only knew each others' names, he wanted to see him so badly even though their first meeting was so abrupt and unlikely. Yuta might be the one for him, and Jeffrey wouldn't want him to ever lose his smile.

"Sorry?"   
"I'll be with you, to help you find your identity."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are highly appreciated! 
> 
> Do drop by and tell me your opinions on this piece :)  
> curiouscat.me/ukranianstairs


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